Artist: Hot Chip
Label: EMI Records
Release: 2010
Rating: 3.6/5
Hot Chip, England’s purveyors of meditative electronic pop/rock, are back with a new album that bears the cleverly chosen title One Life Stand. Plenty of people would say the recipe for commercial and artistic success has stayed the same, but you can feel quite a few musical nuances that nudge this record away from its predecessor Made in the Dark.
This time Goddard and Taylor take the reins, and they’re responsible for the bulk of the material. As a result, the album is way more upbeat, happy and full of summer than the last one, which might come from recording during the “cheerful” summer months, when hordes of pale islanders are surely flocking to English beaches trying to change their pigment. Definitely a good starting point for a bag full of laughs and fun.
Hot Chip are a long way from the days when they worked more experimental or even progressive patterns into their musical vision, but a bit of that mentality has stuck around. So they don’t wear us out with nonstop dance motifs that are as alike as two peas in a pod. Alongside the feel-good electronic rhythms, you can also enjoy gentle ballads, moments of soul inspiration and the odd rocker section. The guys haven’t forgotten the basic principle of variety, but at the same time they stay refreshingly grounded and don’t try to wow us with too many jumps between genres. They always manage to keep everything within the bounds of good taste. That’s probably exactly what makes them so popular with listeners and critics alike. It’s hard to give them a bad grade because they’re just too likable, but it’s equally hard to praise them too much, because they always stick to the golden mean, using everything in moderation and never trying to break through to higher spheres of musical spirituality. That’s understandable, but it’s also frustrating, because you can’t help wondering what would happen if the guys worried less about putting together “pretty” songs for the ear and just let their talent off the leash. That’s the price of success, I guess. They probably find a life of playing fairly moderate, easily accessible music with still-rich enough musical roots more tempting than scraping by on music not enough people will understand to make a living. Either way, this album occasionally hints at their talent, which leaves us asking, “What could have been?”, but you have to take the small rewards too. Either way, there are enough goodies here that no wax will build up between our ears.
With One Life Stand, Hot Chip serve up something a shade different from its predecessor, which was a bit darker and more ambient, but the basic formula hasn’t changed all that much. The album is varied enough that it won’t bore you, but not enough to completely blow you away. The contribution of drumming legend Charles Hayward (This Heat) improves the impression a little, but it’s still not enough for a standing ovation. What else is there to say? Very solid, good at moments, but lacking wildness and a killer instinct.
Lineup
Alexis Taylor – vocals, keyboards, guitar, percussion, piano
Joe Goddard – vocals, synthesizer, percussion
Owen Clarke – guitar
Al Doyle – guitar, synthesizer, percussion
Felix Martin – drum programming
Guests: Fimber Bravo – percussion, Charles Hayward – drums
Production
Hot Chip
Tracklist
1. Thieves in the Night 6:09
2. Hand Me Down Your Love 4:33
3. I Feel Better 4:41
4. One Life Stand 5:23
5. Brothers 4:21
6. Slush 6:29
7. Alley Cats 5:21
8. We Have Love 4:28
9. Keep Quiet 4:02
10. Take It In 4:10
